Textured exterior mold for structural concrete columns

ABSTRACT

A pliable mold useful for forming concrete columns includes protrusions and/or recesses which form decorative complementary recesses and/or protrusions on the resultant column.

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to U.S. Provisional App. No. 62/787,420, filed 2 Jan. 2019, the entirety of which is incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND Field of Endeavor

The present invention relates to devices, systems, and processes useful as concrete molds, and more specifically to decorative concrete column molds.

Brief Description of the Related Art

A reinforced concrete column is a structural member designed to carry compressive loads for buildings and other structures. They are composed of concrete with an embedded steel frame to provide reinforcement; while less common, the steel frame is not used in some columns. The exterior surfaces of such columns are smooth and plain. Typically, concrete columns are made by positioning a form at the location where the concrete column is to be located, optionally with steel frame(s) therein, and an uncured wet concrete slurry is poured into hollow center of the form and permitted to set and cure over time. Once the concrete column has sufficiently set and cured at least to support its own weight, the form is removed from the exterior of the column.

SUMMARY

In general terms, this disclosure relates to a mold that adds creative design elements to structural concrete columns. The creative design element(s) is (are) not added to the structural concrete form itself that creates the column (see above), but may be an additional component that is added to the interior of a column form, and thus is in direct contact with the concrete slurry when it is poured into the form. When the form and mold are removed from the column, after the concrete has set, the desired texture and design elements are left on the column's exterior surface as a permanent feature. This application describes an array of product options that can be utilized by architects, builders, and clients to add design elements to visible columns that would otherwise be bare.

Still other aspects, features, and attendant advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from a reading of the following detailed description of embodiments constructed in accordance therewith, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention of the present application will now be described in more detail with reference to exemplary embodiments of the apparatus and method, given only by way of example, and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of a portion of a concrete column mold;

FIG. 2 illustrates a perspective view of a concrete column with a mold insert applied to the column form;

FIG. 3 illustrates removal of a form;

FIG. 4A illustrates a concrete column with finished design elements; and

FIG. 4B is an image of an exemplary finished concrete column according to a second exemplary embodiment, with a recessed design formed in the surface of the column.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Referring to the drawing figures, like reference numerals designate identical or corresponding elements throughout the several figures.

In general terms, this disclosure relates to a mold that adds creative design elements to structural concrete columns. The creative design element(s) is (are) not added to the structural concrete form itself that creates the column (see above), but may be an additional component that is added to the interior of a column form, and thus is in direct contact with the concrete slurry when it is poured into the form. When the form and mold are removed from the column, after the concrete has set, the desired texture and design elements are left on the column's exterior surface as a permanent feature. This application describes an array of product options that can be utilized by architects, builders, and clients to add design elements to visible columns that would otherwise be bare.

Typically, the molds will be used on reinforced concrete columns, although they can be used with other materials that are cast in a columnar form; molds as described herein can be used to add design elements to both load-bearing and non-load bearing columns.

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic view of an approximated portion of a custom designed mold insert 10. The mold insert 10 itself is preferably created using a relief mold or cast, meaning that the mold includes indentations, recesses, or cavities in the body of the mold insert material. Alternatively, however, the insert 10 may include protrusions 16. Further alternatively, the insert 10 may include both protrusions 16 and recesses. The mold insert 10 may be made of a pliable non-concrete-reactive material (such as silicone, polyurethane, rubber, etc.) formed as a sheet 12, and may be sized to fit varying concrete column sizes as a fully insertable sheet. The illustration of FIG. 1 is a diagonally angled view of a square portioned cut-out of the mold insert 10 that has been laid on a flat surface, and has a thickness 14 which is the same as or greater than the depth of any recess(es). In this example, the paw print design projects outward from the mold sheet 12 so that it will leave an inward imprint in the concrete column CC once the column form and sheet 12 is removed from the finished concrete column.

FIG. 2 illustrates the layers of materials used during the construction of the concrete column CC. From left to right in FIG. 2: a cardboard concrete column form (as the outer layer) 18; a full sheet of a pliable mold insert (the middle layer) 12; and an inner layer of poured concrete. In this example, a pliable mold of a protruding finished design has been inserted into the concrete form and pressed tightly against the inner surface of the form. The mold 10 is engineered and manufactured to fit the inner surface of the column correctly based upon various column form sizes and needs. Once the mold insert has been applied, wet concrete may be poured into the form which will fill the mold insert and press it outward. Once the concrete is cured, the form 18 can be removed, and the protruding paw print design 20 is left on the exterior surface of the finished concrete column CC.

FIG. 3 illustrates the removal of the cylindrical concrete form 18 and the pliable mold insert 12 once the concrete has properly cured. In this example, a vertical cut has been made through the form 18 and mold 10 (on the right side of the figure). Then the form 18 and mold 12 are removed by peeling them off of and/or away from the finished concrete beneath, leaving a protruding paw print design 20, mirroring and complementary to the previously installed and removed mold. The design is not limited to being a paw print, and can be virtually any shape or size.

FIG. 4A illustrates a schematic view of the finished column CC with the design elements 22 that are created by the mold inserts as illustrated in FIG. 3. In this example, a frontal view of the finished column depicts the protruding paw print design elements 22 on the exterior surface of the finished concrete form CC. FIG. 4B is an image of a concrete column CC that has been imprinted in accordance with another embodiment, in which the mold 10 includes design features which protrude in the radially inward direction when coupled with a concrete form, such as illustrated in FIG. 2. With use of this second embodiment, relief features 24, rather than the protruding features 22 of FIG. 4A, are formed in the concrete column.

The protrusions and recesses described herein can be all the same height/depth, or when more than one is included in a single mold 10, can have differing heights and/or depths. Furthermore, the heights/depths of any one protrusion/recess may alternatively be non-constant, so that the resulting feature formed in the concrete column CC has a non-constant depth/height. Furthermore, the forms 18 may take any of a variety of shapes, with hollow interiors (to thus create columns having the same shape) having cross-sectional shapes of a disk, oval, square, rectangle, triangle, and any other geometric or irregular shape.

While the invention has been described in detail with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that various changes can be made, and equivalents employed, without departing from the scope of the invention. The foregoing description of the preferred embodiments of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed, and modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings or may be acquired from practice of the invention. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to explain the principles of the invention and its practical application to enable one skilled in the art to utilize the invention in various embodiments as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the claims appended hereto, and their equivalents. The entirety of each of the aforementioned documents is incorporated by reference herein. 

That which is claimed is:
 1. A method of making a decorative concrete column, the method comprising: providing a concrete form and a pliable sheet having protrusions, recesses, or both protrusions and recesses; placing the sheet inside the form with the protrusions and/or recesses directed radially inward; filing the mold with wet concrete; and permitting the concrete to set.
 2. A method according to claim 1, wherein providing comprises providing a sheet which comprises only protrusions.
 3. A method according to claim 1, wherein providing comprises providing a sheet which comprises only recesses.
 4. A method according to claim 1, wherein providing comprises providing a sheet which comprises both protrusions and recesses.
 5. A mold useful for forming a decorative concrete column, the mold comprising: a pliable sheet comprising protrusions, recesses, or both protrusions and recesses.
 6. A mold according to claim 5, wherein the sheet comprises only recesses.
 7. A mold according to claim 5, wherein the sheet comprises only protrusions.
 8. A system useful for forming concrete columns, the system comprising: a concrete form having a hollow interior; and a mold according to claim 5 positioned in the form hollow interior. 